And, while putting these pillars in place, there are certain Dos and Don’ts that brands should keep in mind:

DO

DIFFERENTIATE STRATEGY: The one thing Rauser couldn’t stress enough was that “social media strategy doesn’t replace your brand or marketing strategy.” Brands should realise that social media is an “added” marketing tool and should be used as just that.

SET YOUR TONE: “As a brand, you need to develop a tone of voice that you want to use [on your social media pages],” says Rauser. “‘Are we going to be extremely corporate? Are we going to be more on the friendly/social side?’ You also need define the kind of language you will use. Are you going to use slang, or more formal language, or are you going to be very technical?”

MAINTAIN BALANCE: Brands should put thought into the type of content they put up. “You should find the right balance between actually selling your company and interacting and contributing to the conversation. If you constantly talk about yourself and about products and try to sell something, the audience will get annoyed with you,” he says.

The brand needs to have a proper flow of conversation, he adds. Instead of a one-way communication, brands need to establish a two-way dialogue that can enhance interaction. Listening to your audience is an essential part of establishing a social media presence, he adds.

PLAN AHEAD: “Part of your strategy should be setting up guidelines on what kind of communication you want to tolerate and what you don’t,” says Rauser. “There will eventually be negative comments that come on your social media [pages], so you need to have a plan in place. There might be a topic that is very politically incorrect, but you cannot just remove it or slash it down. So there are a lot of issues to be taken care of.”